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Campus Opens Doors for Spring Semester

New Students, Faculty Members, Programs and Activities for the Year Ahead

Jan. 25, 2013

Students begin the spring semester at Cal State Fullerton with a variety of courses and programs available to them.

More than 33,700 students already have enrolled and more are expected to sign up for classes as Cal State Fullerton begins the spring semester.

The first day of instruction is Saturday, Jan. 26, but the bulk of classes begin Monday, Jan. 28.

Prior to the passage of Proposition 30 in November, which halted a $250 million "trigger" cut to the CSU, the system determined that admission of new students for the spring would be limited to just eight campuses in the 23-campus system, including CSUF. Reduced state funding kept eigibility limited to only those prospective students who had completed an associate degree for transfer, as provided for by Senate Bill 1440. The limit on admissions is expected to keep enrollment below the level reached at CSUF last spring, when 34,467 were enrolled.

Meanwhile, CSUF had reached a new high for fall semester enrollment with 37,677 students. The highest-ever enrollment of 37,765 students was tallied in the spring of 2009. This past year, a record number of applications were received from those seeking admission to the university — 67,326 seeking entry for this fall, up from the previous record of 65,670 applications received for fall 2012 admission.

For 13 of the past 14 years, Cal State Fullerton has been the No. 1 destination of community college students seeking to transfer to a public university in California.

Lori A. Muse, professor of management in the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, begins her tenure as the holder of the Rick Muth Family Chair in Family Business, named for the president of Stanton-based Orco Block, who led the fundraising campaign and is a founding member of the college's Center for Family Business.

Among highlights of the spring schedule, Mildred García will be inaugurated as Cal State Fullerton's fifth president. The public ceremony is at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 1, in the Meng Concert Hall of the Clayes Performing Arts Center. The inaugural theme is "Celebrating Titan Pride: Reaching Toward a Promising Future and Ensuring Student Success." Underwritten entirely by donated funds, the inauguration will be followed by a reception in the Kathryn T. McCarty Grand Foyer. The ceremony is open to the public, though seating is limited. Reservations can be made online.

Specialized Offerings

New for students this spring is the opportunity to attend the Cal State DC program during the semester. Formerly offered only in the summer, the seven-year-old program has been expanded to incorporate a spring semester group, giving more students a chance to explore and launch careers in the nation's capital. While there, students intern for elected officials, nonprofit groups, lobbying firms and other agencies. In addition to the experience they gather from their internships, students earn six units of college credit — three for the internship and three for completing a political science class.

The program is designed for students who have completed 60 units of undergraduate course work and are seeking to complete a bachelor's degree in business, but are unable to attend in-the-classroom courses.

Info Booths, Special Events

Titan Weeks of Welcome, an annual event that continues through the first two weeks of the spring semester, is designed to help students navigate the campus and learn more about what's available to them outside the classroom. Information booths are staffed from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 28-29 throughout the main campus, and from 4 to 7 p.m. Jan. 30-31 in the Eastside Parking Structure and Pollak Library/Performing Arts walkway, to provide information, directions and free giveaways.

Campus and community members can look forward to the annual celebration of Black History Month on campus Feb. 4-28, when an array of lectures and entertainment, a conference on health issues and an awards event will be presented.